News
Posted in Google Analytics, SEO, Attacat on 1st July 2009 by Tim Barlow
Lot’s of changing responsibilites here at the moment.
Ben
First up is the appointment of Ben Rogers as a company director. Ben has demonstrated an exceptional natural understanding of internet marketing and has already instigated a lot of improvements to the way we work and the services we offer (one example being our expertise in Google Analytics).
Ben’s new title is Operations & Business Development Director. He will be responsible for much of the day to day running of the company.
(Tim will remain in the MD seat but with focus moving more towards strategy and training.)
Hannah
After an outstanding performance, particularly over the last six months, Hannah Gibson has been promoted to Account Manager. This promotion was always on the cards for Hannah but she has exceeded all our expectations in terms of the speed with which she has achieved it. We should have known better!
Scott
Scott Heron has just joined the team, bringing with him a good knowledge of SEO.
Posted in Attacat on 1st July 2009 by Tim Barlow
On the first day of our new financial year I would just like to say a huge thank you to all those who have given us business over the last 12 months – it is hugely appreciated. Whilst it will be a while before our year end accounts are finalised, we feel that is has been our best year yet – all thanks to you.
We look forward to continuing to work with you during our 2009/10 financial year.
Posted in Google AdWords, Other, Past Attacat Newsletters on 2nd June 2009 by Tim Barlow
(This is a reproduction of an article I originally wrote for the Franchise Academy’s newsletter)
Almost all franchise businesses stand to gain significantly from search engine marketings ability to connect you with active prospects.
Google AdWords (thatҒs the sponsored listings across the top and down the right hand side of the Google results page) is one of the most effective tools for taking advantage of this medium. Despite this, many franchises often fail to make the best of the opportunity…probably because its seen as complicated and costly.
The root cause of problems often comes from issues of control. Typically we see two different approaches. Either the franchisor runs the whole process centrally, or the franchisee is left to get on with it. There are benefits to both approaches:
Benefits of Franchisor Control
- Consistent representation of the brand and values in relation to the text being used in adverts and the search phrases (ғkeywords) used
- The ability to cover all geographic regions effectively. Despite the impression some search engines give, the ability to target searchers in a specific geographic region is anything but perfect. A blanket
coverage approach is still required to ensure the opportunity is maximised.
- Monitoring success of campaigns, through tools such as Google Analytics, is likely to be easier and more consistent, allowing each franchise area to be benchmarked
- Protecting the trademark from abuse. Competitors showing ads when someone searches for a trademark is simpler to control centrally.
- The individuals running the campaigns are likely to have a greater insight into getting the most out of AdWords, ensuring lessons are learned only once.
Benefits of Franchisee Control
- The franchisee gets the opportunity to decide how much money they should be spending, rather than being dictated to.
- There are no issues in relation to how the budget is split up
- Knowledge of the local market is likely to be higher, although this is less important with AdWords as it is with some forms of marketing
- Scrutiny of the advertising spend is likely to be higher as what may be a small amount of cash to the franchisor may be significant to the franchisee
There are obviously pros and cons of both routes. Whilst some form of hybrid model is possible, thereԒs no doubt that success needs a franchisor to take the initiative.
At best, insufficient support from the franchisor will lead to missed opportunities. At worst, franchisees may start setting up their own websites and separate search marketing strategies, risking inefficient spend and damage to the brand.
If AdWords strategy and search marketing in general isnt part of your manual, please give serious consideration to making it so.
Posted in on 15th May 2009 by Tim Barlow
There’s an announcement of a significant change in Google’s trademark policy.
This only applies to the US but I think it is a reasonable bet that the UK will follow suit at some point.
The current policy (and that which still applies in the UK) in simple terms states that Google allows advertisers to bid for keywords that include a trademark term but not allow the trademark term to be included in the advert text.
This is now being relaxed (in the US) to allow the trademarked term to appear in the ad text if (and I paraphrase) the advertiser:
- sells (or clearly facilitates the sale of) the goods or services corresponding to a trademark term.
- sells components, replacement parts or compatible products corresponding to a trademark
- provides non-competitive and informative details about the goods or services corresponding to the trademark term provided they don’t seek to sell or facilitate the sale of the goods or services of a competitor of the trademark owner.
(full details)
Whether or not you will be pleased about this will depend on which side of the fence you sit on. It’s great news for unofficial resellers. Brand owners and authorised resellers may be less smitten.
Posted in Attacat on 17th April 2009 by Tim Barlow
Attacat are looking for a PPC Account Manager with at least one year’s PPC and/or SEO experience – preferably from within an agency environment.
This is a great role giving exposure to multiple PPC accounts along with the ability to specialise in particular areas of interest. Additional remit beyond the current role for the right candidate would be expanding into a part-time Internet Marketing Director role for certain clients.
(Whilst this is not an entry level position, applications from exceptional candidates with unrelated experience but a strong desire to get into this industry, will be considered)
About the Position
The successful candidate will be required to:
- Liaise with clients and manage their campaigns on a day-to-day basis
- Train for, and achieve “Qualified Google Advertising Professional” status and equivalent qualifications
- Be highly knowledgeable in the field of pay-per-click search engines & pay-per-click strategy
- Develop strong relationships with the pay-per-click providers’ account managers
- Analyse and improve performance of owned client accounts
- Build on existing knowledge in Google Analytics & similar analytics packages
- Build new pay per click accounts including:
- Keyword research & selection
- Creative advert copy writing
- Understanding search trends
- Input into the day to day running of the business
The successful candidate will have a track record of great PPC performance and understanding of PPC strategy & Tracking Technologies. In addition the successful candidate will:
- Have a passion for working in the online advertising & marketing field (and be able to demonstrate this!)
- Have Common Sense and Initiative
- Have client facing experience
- Be able to prioritise their own workload
- Work from their own initiative
- Have great interpersonal skills
- Be educated to degree level
Any of the following experience would be advantageous:
- SEO
- HTML/CSS (& other web technologies)
- Copyrighting
- Sales or business development experience
- Entrepreneurial
- Having the Qualified Google AdWords Professional certification and/or other external qualifications
About Attacat
Attacat specialises in Google AdWords and similar paid search products. With a proven track record of adding value to clients’ bottom lines (and being able to prove it), Attacat finds itself growing during the downturn. Located in Stockbridge, central Edinburgh with ambitions to grow, Attacat represents an exciting environment to be in.
Salary & Benefits
The basic salary for this position will be competitive (commensurate with experience & qualifications)
Attacat also offer:
- An exceptional profit share scheme
- Up to 100% support for external qualifications
- (Very) Flexi-time policy which allows staff to have up to 40 days (inc. stats) off a year
How to Apply
Please send your CV to enquiries at attacat dot co dot uk together with your covering letter and salary expectations.
Posted in Yahoo! Search Marketing on 25th March 2009 by Tim Barlow
Hardly an internationally recognized metric but the “Attacat Excitement about New Paid Search Feature Index” (compiled (ish) from the general buzz in the office when one of the main search engines adds new features) has become notable (in the office anyway) for the very low score of any release on Yahoo! Search Marketing.
Normally any feature that allows greater targeting on search causes fever pitch excitement and calls for at least a cup of tea to discuss (we’re exciting types honest). If that targeting happens to be demographic targeting then it would be even worse.
But when we heard news of Yahoo! launching demographic targeting it hardly registered (partly because the features are not yet available in the UK). Perhaps we just dont expect it to be as good as it says on the tin, despite Yahoo! Having an excellent understanding of visitors to its network.
We are hoping though that this will accelerate Google towards this approach. The ability to target specific age demographics on searches (e.g. the “cashmere jumper” example I usually use) remains as high on our wish list as it has done for years. Microsoft offer it, Yahoo are now doing it but until Google do it (and are able to offer it for a significant portion of their user base) it remains little but hype.
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